As Martin Litton and the Arkwright siblings make their way back from a festive ball, an argument ignites about which of them Martin prefers. He is torn between Frances, who he feels he can tell almost all his secrets, and Richard, who first took him under his wing at school. Before Martin can answer though, their journey home is abruptly halted.

Once the railway was completed in 1855, people were eager to take advantage of the new transport link. It would not all be smooth sailing though, as a decade later, services were halted as major alterations were carried out. Would these changes help, or hinder the railway?

In the early nineteenth century, a proposal was put forward to build a railway from Gloucester to Hereford via Ross-on-Wye. But with numerous false starts and setbacks plaguing the project, would its supporters ever be able to get it past the drawing board?